U.S. Top News: Occupy supporters in New York, Wisconsin sue over free speech

Click to View in Browser 05/1/2012 Occupy supporters in New York, Wisconsin sue over free speech NEW YORK (Reuters) - A flurry of civil rights lawsuits accusing police of stifling free speech of Occupy Wall Street protesters have been filed ahead of a May 1 effort to reinvigorate the movement against economic inequality. Appeals court blocks Planned Parenthood ruing in Texas dispute (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday granted the State of Texas an emergency stay of a lower court's ruling that had blocked a ban of state funding for Planned Parenthood clinics and ended the organization's health services for poor women because the organization provides abortions. Tornado hits small Oklahoma town, knocks out power OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - A tornado hit a small Oklahoma town on Monday, knocking out power to the community of 1,000 residents and damaging a farm just two weeks after a tornado elsewhere in the state killed at least six people, the National Weather Service said. IAM workers strike at Caterpillar's Joliet plant (Reuters) - About 800 workers went on strike at a Caterpillar Inc plant in Joliet, Illinois, early Tuesday morning after one of the company's union contracts expired with little indication of when a new pact could be in place. Report criticizes Oakland police handling of Occupy protests (Reuters) - Oakland police used "an overwhelming military-type response" to disperse Occupy Oakland demonstrators and fired at a former Marine and Iraq war veteran who was critically injured in the clashes in October, according to a report issued on Monday. White powder envelopes close NYC bank branches (Reuters) - A rash of incidents involving envelopes containing a suspicious white powder had police scrambling around New York City on Monday and forced the nation's fourth-biggest bank, Wells Fargo & Co, to shut down five branches. Justice Department probes University of Montana student rape reports (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has opened an investigation into the handling of numerous sexual assault allegations involving students at the University of Montana, where at least two members of the football team are accused of rape. Former Alaska mayor pleads guilty to child porn charges ANCHORAGE (Reuters) - A former Alaska mayor who served on a school board and once received a "Citizen of the Year" award pleaded guilty on Monday to seven counts of possessing child pornography as part of a deal with prosecutors, police said. Ex-CIA official says tapes destroyed to prevent al Qaeda reprisals WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jose Rodriguez said it took a "few hours" to destroy 92 videotapes showing his CIA colleagues using harsh interrogation techniques - including waterboarding - on al Qaeda leaders such as September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Ohio to return wild animals to widow COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - Five wild animals will soon be returned to the widow of a man who released them into the Ohio countryside last year, state officials said on Monday, raising concerns of a repeat of the panic that gripped the state when dozens of beasts including lions, tigers and bears roamed free. Related Video Market Pulse: May Day cry for Aussie, sterling bulls Spain's banking black hole could trigger 2008 re-run Great Debate A daily digest of breaking business news, coverage of the US economy, major corporate news and the financial markets. Register Today   The latest Reuters articles on M&A, IPOs, private equity, hedge funds and regulatory updates delivered to your inbox each day. Register Today   » MORE NEWSLETTERS - 3 Times Square New York, NY 10036 USA © Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters Ensure delivery of Reuters Newsmails, add mail@nl.reuters.com to your address book. Details Subscribe to other Reuters newsletters. Unsubscribe from this newsletter. Follow us on Twitter Friend us on Facebook Forward to a friend